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Saturday, May 7, 2016

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

Combining the emotional depth of The Art of Racing in the Rain with the magical spirit of The Life of Pi, Lily and the Octopus is an epic adventure of the heart.

When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride.

The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details.

We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without.

For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog.

Lily and the Octopus reminds
us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go,
and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

Remember the last book you told someone they had to read?

Lily and the Octopus is the next one. @goodreads

MY REVIEW:

5 STARS

I DID NOT WANT TO CRY TODAY! DAMN IT! *Some spoilers*

I put off reading this book for some time. I would look over at the book in my stacks and say..not today. Because. I knew I was going to cry. And I cried and cried some more.

This
book is about Lily and Ted, they are best friends. She is his dog and
I'm getting ready to cry again!!!! The love that Ted had for Lily is so
very beautiful. I could feel all of the pain Ted had in the book. I
could enjoy the happy, silly times.

I had those same times with
my son, Dakota. He was my Australian Shepherd and he was my everything.
People couldn't understand why I really didn't want to go anywhere
unless Dakota was with me. Not a lot of people can understand that kind
of love. I loved how Ted would talk about thinking of Lily when he was
away from her. I get it. They are our fur babies and they should never
have to get any kind of medical problems in my opinion. They should just
die peacefully in their sleep when it's time!

I loved reading about Ted and Lily having game night, talking about men and other funny stuff. It was so cute.

Then
Lily picks up a friend that Ted names the octopus. The octopus that no
dog or person should have and it's so sad all of the things they go
through. I hated it. I hated it for them.

I didn't have to go
through all of that with my Dakota. I guess God didn't think I would be
able to handle it. My Dakota collapsed one night in the middle of the
night/morning. We rushed him to the ER Vet and he had damn cancer. After
everything I did every year to try to make sure the damn cancer didn't
sneak up and get him, it did anyway. That same year I was going to start
doing x rays every year because I knew the extensive blood work
couldn't pick all of that up. And it didn't and I was too late. Dakota
had it in his spleen and lungs. It was too late because it had gotten
into his lungs. I told them you are not euthanizing him. His vet of 11
years will do it and call him now and let me talk to him. We set it up
for the next morning and I was to just watch over Dakota to make sure he
wasn't in any pain through the one night. One damn night, that's all I
got. I would have done so much more to make him happy if I would have
known. But some say it's worse if you know and watch them go downhill. I
didn't get to go through all of the horrible stuff Ted went through
with Lily. I can't even imagine that kind of pain.

When the time
came for Ted to do what he had to do with Lily, I felt it. I was right
there again in my vets office with my dad begging him to put me to sleep
too. It was one of the most horrific things I ever had to do and anyone
that has had to do it knows that.

I would recommend this book
to anyone that loves animals. You don't have to be a dog lover to
understand what goes on in this book. And I think you will love to read
about their little antics too.

Thanks to the Ted and Lily, I just might start slowing writing a book about me and Dakota. They are a little inspiration to me.

--->EXCERPTS<--- *This is an Arc of the book so excerpts are subject to change.*

I
worried for a second she was going to try to discourage me further from
choosing this puppy. She studied us both for a moment as I held the
runt protectively, and eventually her face softened and relented. I
wondered if she wasn't just relieved to have someone take the runt so
she could charge more for the rest of her flawless litter.

"Seems
like she kind of chose you." And then, after a beat, "I suppose that's
how it works." She finished with the off-center smile of a car salesman
who's just sold a lemon for nearly full price.

*I would
like to thank Simon & Schuster for a print copy of this book through
The Reading Room in exchange for my honest review.*